ABSTRACT
Southampton football club (SFC) operates as a business, not a ‘billionaire’s plaything’ and the board’s vision for the club was to continue its upwards trajectory on and off the pitch, becoming ‘Champions League ready’ while extending its brand and reach globally. The board also asked that people help create a consistent leadership ethos while respecting and encouraging different management styles, and that the experience of the intervention and its outcome would set SFC apart when it came to leadership development – not just in sport, but across sectors. The impact the work had in the first year promoted the Senior management team (SMT) and the board to ask to roll out a similar programme for the next tier down – 15 of the SMT’s direct reports. From the outset people invested heavily in ensuring SMT members, the board them and their direct reports were ‘engaged’ with the team coaching process.
